North Korea has dispatched additional troops to Russia and redeployed some of its soldiers to the front line in the Kursk region, according to a South Korean official from the country’s intelligence agency, who spoke to AFP on Thursday.
South Korean and Western intelligence agencies had previously reported that over 10,000 North Korean soldiers were sent to Russia last year to support the Russian military in countering a surprise Ukrainian offensive near the border.
Earlier this month, South Korea stated that North Korean troops fighting alongside Russian forces in the Kursk region had not been engaged in combat since mid-January. Ukraine also claimed that these troops were withdrawn after sustaining heavy losses.
However, the South Korean official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that these troops had now been “redeployed” to the front line. “There also appear to have been additional troop deployments,” the official added, although the exact scale of the redeployment is still under assessment.
Neither Moscow nor Pyongyang has confirmed the presence of North Korean forces in Russia. However, the two nations signed an agreement during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to North Korea last year, which included a mutual defence clause.
